Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

Wal-Mart Sues Puerto Rico Over ‘Astonishing’ Tax Increases by Andrew M. Harris at Bloomberg. “The new levy raised the estimated cumulative income tax on Wal-Mart Puerto Rico Inc. “to an astonishing and unsustainable 91.5% of its net income,” according to the company’s complaint, filed in federal court in San Juan Friday.”Read more

Williams-Sonoma founder Chuck Williams dies at 100 by Olga R. Rodriguez via Dallas Morning News. “Williams opened his first Williams-Sonoma store in Sonoma, Calif., in 1956 inspired by a trip to Paris three years earlier…”I couldn’t get over seeing so many great things for cooking, the heavy pots and pans, white porcelain ovenware, country earthenware, great tools and professional knives,” Williams told The Washington Post in 2005.”Read more

Amazon Buys Thousands of Its Own Truck Trailers as Its Transportation Ambitions Grow by Jason Del Rey at Recode. “One guess on why Amazon only wants to own the trailer at this point: If it owned the tractor, it would have to register as a commercial trucking company and incur the insurance costs and liability risks that come with that.”Read more

Target still trying to catch up after mistaken Web strategy by Lee Schafer at Star Tribune. “These are things that people working for Target should have spent those ten years learning to efficiently and reliably give its customers, reporting to a Target CEO who cared a lot about making sure the work got done.”Read more

Nordstrom Joins Syndicate In $15.5 Million Round For On-Demand Custom Shoe Retailer Shoes Of Prey by Jonathan Shieber at TechCrunch. “Part of the funding will be used to firmly entrench the Sydney-based startup in its new home in Los Angeles, according to the company’s co-founder Jodie Fox. The money will also be used to add new products to the Shoes of Prey roster (the company intends to roll out a line of boots next winter).”Read more

**A message from ASD Market Week – ASD is the trade show with the highest ROI! On February 28 – March 2, 2016, we open the doors of the Las Vegas Convention Center to 45,000+ attendees looking to shop the world’s widest variety of wholesale lifestyle accessories and general merchandise at the lowest price points available. Discover hot new products and stylish finds from over 2,600 vendors in categories including: fashion & accessories, beauty & fragrance, gift & home, toys & novelties and many more.Learn more about ASD / See category list | See the show floor video | Register now

Amazon to begin move into new Seattle campus this week, with rooftop dog park and indoor basketball court by Jacob Demmitt at GeekWire. “Construction on the entire project — which will consist of 4 million square feet of office space across three towers, a large meeting center and epic-looking glass spheres — still isn’t complete. For now, just two buildings are ready for move-in, a company spokesman tells GeekWire.”Read more

In time of change, Food Lion president looks to innovate by Katherine Peralta at Charlotte Observer. “Meg Ham’s first year as president of Food Lion has been a time of major change for the Salisbury-based grocer. Among her tasks: Roll out Food Lion’s new merchandising and pricing strategy across its 1,100 stores. And steer the grocer through a major corporate change…”Read more

Skymall gets back in the air with United Airlines by Hugo Martin a LA Times. “In April, New Jersey-based C&A Marketing purchased Skymall out of bankruptcy protection with plans to revive the business. The first step began in October when Skymall paid to be included as an insert in United Airlines’ in-flight magazine, Hemispheres.”Read more

Canada’s second-largest supermarket seeks ‘transparency,’ better deals in supplier pricing overhaul by Marina Strauss at Globe & Mail. “Marc Poulin, chief executive officer of Sobeys, said in an interview that the steps the retailer is taking with its suppliers are aimed at removing the “complexity” and administrative cost of deducting multiple payments from vendors for such things as bulk buying and flyer promotions.”Read more

Electrolux’s US plans in tatters as GE deal falls through via CNBC. “Announcing the deal in autumn last year, Electrolux said its biggest ever acquisition would double its sales in the United States and step up the challenge to arch rival Whirlpool in the world’s largest appliance market.”Read more

Hoverboards are blowing up across country and in Europe, US and UK officials warn by Alfred Ng at NY Daily News. “The UK’s National Trading Standards seized more than 15,000 hoverboards since Oct. 15 after finding them a major safety risk. Of the 17,000 hoverboards inspected, the organization said an alarming 88% of these devices had an increased risk of “overheating, exploding or catching fire” because of faulty plugs.”Read more / See the pics

Woman shares important message after heartbreaking experienceat Walmart at WTTV CBS 4. “Yore continued to console him, and that’s when he said, “Ma’am, my mom just committed suicide this morning… and I have to work because I have to pay our rent, and I have to pay our bills. And I don’t even have a mom anymore. And this lady is just yelling at me.”…In less than three days, the video has already been viewed over 13.6 million times.”See the video / Read more